The school bell isn’t just changing kids’ schedules, its transforming family mealtimes, grocery trips, and the daily routines that keep busy households running. Results from this year’s Back-to-School 1Q survey among parents with children ages 5+ show that the return to school is encouraging families to become more intentional with how they shop for food and plan meals. To understand how these behaviors have evolved, the results are compared to the same survey fielded in 2024, highlighting where parents’ routines have changed and where they have remained consistent.
- Convenience remains a key back-to-school priority for parents. In 2026, half of parents (50% vs. 66% in 2024) expect to look for quick meal solutions, making it one of the most common behavior changes reported. While the figure is lower than in 2024, it remains high, and nearly as many parents 48% say their use of quick meal solutions will stay the same. This suggests that quick meal options may be less of a seasonal back-to-school adjustment and more of an everyday routine for many families. Other convenience-focused behaviors also remain popular, including shopping at club stores (2026: 33% vs. 2024: 41%), preparing breakfast at home (30% vs. 42%), buying frozen foods (25% vs. 31%), and using grocery pickup or delivery (24% vs. 32%). Together, these results show that parents continue to look for ways to save time and simplify mealtime during busy school weeks.
- Healthy Eating Stays Top of Mind. Nearly half of parents (2026: 45% vs. 2024: 54%) say they plan to eat healthier or better-for-you foods as school returns, making it one of the most common behavior increases reported in the survey. Although this is down from 2024, the percentage remains high, suggesting that health and nutrition continue to be important priorities for parents as they settle into school-year routines.
- Parents are balancing healthy eating with convenience. As the school year begins, many parents say they plan to eat more healthy or better-for-you foods (2026: 45% vs. 2024: 54%), do more meal planning (48% vs. 67%), and eat more homemade meals (45% vs. 56%). At the same time, about half report no change in these behaviors, including healthy eating (54%), meal planning (50%), and homemade meals (49%). A similar pattern is seen with eating out, as most parents expect no change in restaurant dining (59%) and fast-food consumption (56%). Together with the strong interest in quick meal solutions, the results suggest that many families already have healthy habits in place and are looking for convenient ways to maintain them during the busy school year.
- Saving money remains a priority for parents. More than half (2026: 58% vs. 2024: 69%) say they expect to spend more time looking for deals and coupons, making it the most common grocery behavior expected to increase. However, with 41% reporting no change, many families may already be actively looking for ways to save on groceries throughout the year.
